Charleston firm comes up with a new logo for Edisto
Press & Standard – Dec 08, 2009 By Tom Mason
Strategic marketing by the Edisto Chamber of Commerce will brand the island and beach with a new logo proclaiming Edisto as a “coastal island destination” where vacationers can enjoy Edisto’s distinctive “state of mind . . . anytime, any season.”
Unveiled to chamber members by email just before Thanksgiving, the logo is a key element in a chamber campaign led by E. Boineau and Company, a Charleston communications and public relations firm with long and solid ties to Edisto. Elizabeth L. Boineau originally founded her company in 1990, left for Los Angeles in 1996 to head a team managing an $11 million contract for the State of California. She returned to Charleston in 2002 to form a virtual team of professionals handling major accounts. Her company was retained by the chamber last August.
Chamber Executive Director Dan Carter saved budget surpluses for four years in order to move the chamber into its first formal marketing and branding effort to attract off-season travelers. “We all know the beach is quite popular in summer, and it’s lovely then,” Carter says. “But our area is beautiful throughout the year, and there’s a lot we can do to get the word out about that.”
In late September, focus groups for the beach and the island met to conceptualize a joint marketing plan. With their input, Carter worked with Boineau and her team to egin crafting Edisto’s image, brand, logo, and message. Designed to invoke “a quiet island getaway, nestled among centuries-old live oaks and mile-long marsh views, with modest commercialization and controlled development,” the emphasis is on “preserving the area as a pristine and environmentally rich year-round destination.”
Carter says the new logo will be provided to all chamber members for use in their own marketing efforts. Boineau’s marketing package includes a newsroom at www.edistochamber.com/news.php featuring a media kit with a backgrounder, frequently asked questions, history, and testimonials. There is also an archive of press releases and past media coverage.
Elizabeth is a close cousin of Jack Boineau, who with wife Caroline Pope Boineau, own Edisto’s Middleton Plantation and Summit Plantation on Yonges Island. Elizabeth grew up spending summers at the beach. She has a home in downtown Charleston and a second home at Middleton, where she serves on teh board of the Middleton Plantation Property Owners Group. Commuting frequently between Charleston and Edisto, she says the second home is close to becoming her primary residence, and Edisto is clearly where her heart is.
